Stencil



Oct. 10, 1939.

H. F. RUGENSTEIN STENCIL Filed Feb. 12, 1938 IN VEN TOR. /e/-m anZiL e/wfein,

A TTORNEYJ.

Patented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

Stencils which are used by painters and decorators, for pigmenting surfaces such as walls and ceilings and other objects, with ornamental designs, at the present time are generally made of 5 a relatively stiff but flexible tough paper known in the trade as Kraffine and the cost of production of such stencils resides largely in the time and skill of the cutter.

After such stencils have been used a compara- 10 tively small number of times, whether the pigment has been applied by means of a bristle brush or by means of an air brush, so much pigment adheres to the exposed face of the stencil that portions of the adhering pigment over-hang the edges of the perforations to such an extent as to bridge narrow perforations or narrow portions of perforations and to render ragged the outlines of the perforations so that the stencil has to be discarded.

20 As a consequence of the short life of such stencils, comparatively small stencils have been used for decorating relatively large surfaces upon which repetitive designs are desired.

The object of my present invention is to pro- 25 vide an improved form of stencil of such character that, when its exposed face has become unduly coated with pigment the adherent pigment may be readily eliminated so that the stencil is rehabilitated for further use.

30 The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention:

Fig. 1 is a face view of my improved stencil; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section highly 5 magnified.

In the drawing, Ill indicates the main body of the stencil and comprises a sheet of the commonly used stencil paper, Kraffine or some such desirable material which is reasonably stiff, though flexible, and relatively thin.

To one face of the body sheet I I apply a plurality of superimposed layers ll of very thin but very tough paper, such as kraft paper, these thin layers being bonded together and to the body 5 sheet by a bonding material [2 which is of such character as to permit the ready stripping of each outermost layer from its next subjacent layer without disturbing the bond between said subjacent layer and the various layers and the sten- 50 cil sheet subjacent thereto.

I have found that a good grade of paraffin wax such for instance as Krafiine wax, which is solid at ordinary atmospheric temperatures and is highly liquid at well below the boiling point of 55 water, and which is highly penetrative of tough thin paper such as thin kraft paper, is well adapted for my purpose.

In preparing my stencil, one face of the main stencil sheet I0 is coated with heat liquid bonding Wax and the first layer H is applied thereto; its 5 exposed face is then coated with the liquid wax and another layer ll applied thereto. Successive layers ll may be applied, to the extent of eight or ten, Without rendering the entire stencil too thick for satisfactory use and, when the desired number of layers II have been applied, the entire structure is subjected to heat and a squeegee rubbing action which serves to express excess bonding wax and to eliminate air blisters between the various layers. After the bonding Wax has chilled the desired stencil design is cut through the main body sheet and the applied layers II and in use the plate is applied with the main body l0 laid upon the surface to be ornamented.

When pigment has accumulated upon the exposed face of the outermost layer II to such an extent as to interfere with proper application of the desired design to the receiving surface, the operator has merely to strip off the outer layer l i whereupon the stencil is as good as new. And, when the undermost layer II has been stripped from the main body if), said main body may be again equipped with a new set of layers II and the design readily out therethrough by a relatively inexperienced operator because he has the original stencil for a guide.

In order to facilitate stripping of the pigmentloaded layers II from the stencil, portions of said layers may be so out, as indicated at l3 so that portions of all of the layers are exposed at this point in a step relationship. This may be readily done at one corner of a small stencil as indicated in the drawing. In the case of larger stencils it is quite often desirable to make the applied sheets H of considerably smaller dimensions, much less than the total area of the main stencil sheet so that the main stencil sheet may be utilized for applying various portions of the design in various combinations to different receiving surfaces, the smaller area portions l I being removable in various combinations according to the state of accumulation of pigment over the entire area of the stencil.

By reason of the construction described above, I have found it quite feasible and economical to prepare original stencil plates having many square feet of area because when all of the layers I l have been stripped therefrom, the base stencil sheet may be equipped with a new series of coatings H, thereby avoiding much of the cost of production of a new stencil sheet.

While the layers II are being applied to the body sheet, the body sheet becomes impregnated with the wax and after the design has been cut I find it desirable to run a hot iron over the last sheet ll, thereby causing the edges of the perforations to become coated with the wax. I find that when the completed stencil has been thus treated and used to a point where an undesirable accumulation of pigment has occurred, the stripping of the outermost layer H from the stencil carries with it practically all of the pigment adhering to the edges of the perforations, thus assuring a sharp clean stencil for further use.

I claim as my invention:

1. A stencil comprising a main body sheet upon one face of which is applied a plurality of superimposed relatively thin tough sheets of material, the several sheets and the body sheet being bonded together by a bonding material which, as to immediately adherent sheets, may be readily ruptured by stripping the exposed sheet from its subjacent sheet, the outermost sheets of said adherent sheets being so formed at one point that a portion of each subjacent sheet is exposed to view.

2. A stencil comprising a main body sheet upon one face of which is applied a plurality of superimposed relatively thin tough sheets of material impervious to pigment, the several sheets and the body sheet being bonded together by a bonding material which, as to immediately adherent sheets, may be readily ruptured by stripping the exposed sheet from its subjacent sheet, the outermost sheets of said adherent sheets being so formed at one point that a portion of each subjacent sheet is exposed to view.

3. A stencil composed of a wax impregnated main body sheet, and a plurality of wax impregnated thin superimposed sheets wax-bonded to each other and to one face of the body sheet, said thin sheets being successively peela'ble from the immediately subjacent element, and each of said thin sheets being so formed at one point that a portion of each subjacent sheet is exposed to view. 4. A stencil comprising a main body sheet, a plurality of superimposed tough sheets of material impervious to fluent coloring matter stacked upon said body sheet and bonded together and to said body sheet by a bonding material which may be readily ruptured by progressively raising the upper sheet, each of said superimposed sheets being so formed, adjacent one corner, that a por tion of each subjacent sheet is exposed to view. HERMAN F. RUGENSTEIN. 

